The Roman Empire spanned many centuries before it was destroyed. In that time it made many advancements, politically, architecturally, and environmentally. Some of these improvements and inventions have been advanced and some are even still used today, for example, the Roman Republic created a Constitution that gave rights to the nobles (patricians) and commoners (plebeians), something that was almost unheard of in those days, the U.S. currently uses a similar constitution nearly 2,000 years later. The Romans also created a vast network of large aqueducts, a genius way to bring in water from places far away and bring it to the city. The water supplied was used for plumbing and agricultural purposes, and a sewage system beneath the city swept away the waste to bodies of water outside the city, keeping it clean. The Romans also built extensive roadways across their Empire which allowed easy trade and transportation as well as moving armies soldiers. The Romans also introduced Latin as a major Western European language.